MADURAI: Humankind we call ourselves. Ask an evolutionary psychologist, he would beg to differ and tell you how tribalistic we are. But, ask a general psychologist, she would tell you how quick modern humans in shedding differences when faced with a common threat. Here, the common threat is COVID-19, and those who put away their differences (read customary death rituals) are two different social groups -- Muslims and Brahmins.
For Krishnan* (51) and Selvam* – the two drivers of Free Hearse Service (FHS) at Government Rajaji Hospital (GRH) – the trips they made to transport the mortal remains of Madurai district’s two deceased COVID-19 patients remain “unforgettable”, though weeks have gone by. Selvam, a Scheduled Caste man from Virudhunagar, transported the body of the 70-year-old mother of Meenakshi Sundareswarar Temple priest to the crematorium on April 24. “I headed to Thathaneri crematorium and the victim’s two sons followed the van. It was just the three of us at the crematorium,” he recalled.
“I have heard that Brahmins, akin to many other castes, perform elaborate rituals before cremating their departed loved ones. But, on that day, they had to forgo all the rituals; they just pushed the body inside the electric crematorium. Differences between us took a backseat that day,” he said. Similar is the memory of Krishnan of Nagamalai Pudukkottai, who has been a hearse driver for 10 years. He, who belong to a Most Backward Community, transported the body of the 54-year-old Anna Nagar man, a Muslim by religion, who was the first person in the State to succumb to COVID-19.
The victim breathed his last on March 25. Krishnan explains, “I had no idea that he succumbed to COVID-19. Only after reaching the ward, I realised that he died of COVID-19.” The hospital staff were clueless on how to dispose of the body, he added. “As one son of the deceased man went ahead of our ambulance on a motorcycle, the other son waited at the Melamadai burial ground. Though a few men from the jamaat (an Islamic council) had gathered at the burial site, none came closer. Usually, the kith and kin of the deceased would help carrying the departed in and out of the van. But, despite having a large family, it was just me and his two sons who did the job. I felt odd and gloomy about it,” Krishnan said. (*names changed)
Forgoing caste
Selvam, a Scheduled Caste man, who transported the body of the 70-year-old mother of Meenakshi Sundareswarar Temple priest to the crematorium on April 24, said, “I have heard that Brahmins, like other castes, perform elaborate rituals. But, on that day, they had to forgo all the rituals.”